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A church diocese registered as Indiana nonprofit corporation has filed a lawsuit against its own bishop and two church officials that claims the religious leaders are attempting to unlawfully dissolve it.
The Anglican Diocese of the Trinity filed the complaint—Anglican Diocese of the Trinity (ADOTT) Inc. v. Olukayode Adebogun, Nathan Kanu and Henry C. Ndukuba, 49D01-2401-PL-003210—in Marion Superior Commercial Court Jan. 24.
The diocese seeks declaratory and injunctive relief through a preliminary and permanent injunction to prevent the defendants from dissolving the organization.
According to the lawsuit, the religious leaders of the Anglican Diocese, Church of Nigeria and the Church of Nigeria North American Mission are ignoring the requirements of the Indiana Nonprofit Corporation Act to dissolve the diocese. They intend to dissolve the Anglican Diocese by Feb. 2.
The Anglican Diocese is a member of CONNAM, a missionary initiative of the Church of Nigeria. It is also a full-fledged ecclesiastical unit that operates primarily as a missionary, evangelical and church planting movement, with more than 80 parishes spread across the U.S. and Canada.
In September 2023, the General Synod of the Church of Nigeria met and discussed the ongoing dispute between the Church of Nigeria and the Anglican Church of North America.
According to the complaint, the ACNA had been attempting to force the Church of Nigeria to remove its presence from North America and have its existing North American affiliates re-affiliate with ACNA.
At the meeting, the Church of Nigeria’s General Synod voted to restructure all of its affiliations outside of Nigeria, limiting them to missions only.
As part of the resolution, the Church of Nigeria decided that the Anglican Diocese would be dissolve with the deadline being Feb. 2.
The resolution to dissolve the diocese was made without the involvement or approval of the organization’s Indiana board of directors. According to the complaint, the majority of the Indiana board disapproves of dissolving the diocese.
The Indiana board has notified the defendants that as an Indiana nonprofit, the bishop, CONNAM, and/or the Church of Nigeria has no authority to dissolve the diocese.
In order to dissolve the diocese, the defendants must meet the requirements of the Indiana Nonprofit Corporation Act of 1991. The complaint stated that the defendants have not and cannot meet either of the Indiana Nonprofit Corporation Act’s methods for dissolution.
“Defendants, however, have ignored the Indiana Board and expressed their intention to dissolve the Anglican Diocese on or before February 2, 2024,” the complaint stated.
The diocese asked the Marion Superior Court to enter a declaration regarding the rights of the parties, including determining which party has the authority to dissolve the diocese.
The diocese also asked the court to preliminarily and permanently enjoin the defendants from dissolving the diocese.
It also asked the court to award the Anglican Diocese its costs and expenses, including reasonable attorney fees, incurred and to be incurred in connection with the action.
Attorneys for the defendants have not been listed on MyCase at the time of IL’s deadline Monday. Indiana Lawyer reached out to Adebogun for comment.
A hearing on the motion for a preliminary injunction was scheduled to be held at 3:30 p.m. after IL’s deadline Monday.
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